Madame de Boufflers was a real historical figure, a French noblewoman, a contemporary of Casanova, mistress to King Stanislas of Poland and someone who enjoyed a succession of lovers.  According to historian Ian Kelly she was one of a number of ladies-in-waiting ‘with some time and much money on their hands’ who had become intrigued

Léon is one of the henchmen involved in carrying out the Southerner’s plots, whether that be kidnapping, murder or torture.   Since childhood Léon has hated authority and being told what to do or how to behave.  He has an uncontrollable temper.  As an adolescent, he attacked his mother so badly that he was imprisoned. The

‘Paul’ (his name is in inverted commas because it’s not his real name) is a minor character on the wrong side.  He started life as an informant, a pretty common and mundane occupation in the Paris of Louis XV - (Casanova himself was a spy at different times in his life, both for the French